My Sympathies
by Just call me Angels
Summary: [FF6]Locke can't get over Rachel's death. It's consuming his life. Setzer, who also went through the same ordeal, goes to him to give him a little friendly advice.


Disclaimer: I don't own FF6 or any of its characters. And I don't own Psalm of Life either.

My Sympathies

Locke stared emptily into the horizon. Physically he was on the airship, leaning against the railing on deck, but his heart and mind wandered to much farther places. He could hear someone walking up behind him at this moment, but he didn't really care who it was or what they had to say.

"Rachel," he muttered, barely audible.

Locke could feel a hand on his shoulder and turned to see Setzer. "It does get better, you know," he commented. Locke turned back to gazing into the horizon.

"I just thought that, … I mean if only I could have, … I should have… damnit! She shouldn't have died… she didn't deserve it." There was a brief pause between all his ramblings. "God I miss her so much…"

Setzer nodded sympathetically and removed his hand. He knew exactly what the young thief was going through. The heart ache, the lonely nights, the wondering, the wishing, he had gone through all that himself. 

"Just look at you. A total mess. You remind me of myself when I was younger. You're completely pitiful." Setzer began to lean on the railing next to Locke.

"And just like me, you tried to drown out you're sorrows by pretending to ignore them, yet in the back of our conscious it gnawed away at our every fiber."

It was true. When Daryl first died Setzer was overcome with the same grief and buried himself into the world of a gambler. He would take great risk, ante it up, and then wait for the outcome. It thrilled him to take those risks. But just for a moment, he thought he could escape from the pain. He was such an idiot. Locke on the other hand, in a sense, preserved his lover in a comatose state instead of letting her die. He would search the world over for something that could bring her back. It sounded rather cruel to Setzer to keep a loved one from dying naturally just because of your own selfish desires, but chances are, if he knew about this method when he was younger, he would have used it too. In the end Locke ended up saving her only to lose her again. The fact that he clung onto her for so long, believing he could save her, only made things worse. He was a much bigger idiot that Setzer.

"You have to learn that you must let her go."

"I can never forget her," Locke snapped back.

"I never said you had to."

Setzer glanced at Locke and could see that he wasn't really helping.

"I just can't believe she is gone…" Locke whispered pitifully.

Setzer shook his head slowly, then began to recite one of his favorite poems.

__

"Tell me not in mournful numbers,  
"Life is but an empty dream!"  
For the soul is dead that slumbers,  
And things are not what they seem.  
  
Life is real! Life is earnest!  
And the grave is not its goal;  
"Dust thou art, to dust returnest,"  
Was not spoken of the soul.  
  
Not enjoyment, and not sorrow,  
Is our destined end or way;  
But to act, that each to-morrow  
Find us further than to-day.  
  
Art is long, and Time is fleeting,  
And our hearts, though stout and brave,  
Still, like muffled drums, are beating  
Funeral marches to the grave.  
  
In the world's broad field of battle,  
In the bivouac of Life,  
Be not like dumb, driven cattle!  
Be a hero in the strife!  
  
Trust no Future, howe'er pleasant!  
Let the dead Past bury its dead!  
Act -- act in the living Present!  
Heart within, and God o'erhead!  
  
Lives of great men all remind us  
We can make our lives sublime,  
And, departing, leave behind us  
Footprints on the sands of time;  
  
Footprints, that perhaps another,  
Sailing o'er life's solemn main,  
A forlorn and shipwrecked brother,  
Seeing, shall take heart again.  
  
Let us, then, be up and doing,  
With a heart for any fate;  
Still achieving, still pursuing,  
Learn to labour and to wait."

"Psalm of Life, by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow."

Locke looked at him with a puzzled look.

"Longfellow was a transcendentalist. He believed in the 'Live life to the fullest' proverb. Locke, you pining over Rachel is taking away your life. You can't fully enjoy your time on this earth, the precious little time you have, because you're wasting away over her. It's foolish. Of course you shouldn't forget the time you had with her, but don't let it consume your life."

"Funny, that poem didn't sound like it was about a guy getting over his lover's death," Locke said.

"It's not. I told you it was a 'live life to the fullest' kind of poem. It starts out talking about those that worry if there'' an after life or not and how all they ever do in life is worry about death. The next part says we should take each tomorrow to make our lives better than it was today or the day before that. And even though we may act brave we still silently fear death. The next verse, "In the world's broad field of battle," applies to our misfit crew in more ways that one. It represents that people shouldn't just follow the crowd, they should do what they think is right, despite the hardships that come with it. And the part right after that is the part that applies to you, Locke. It's saying…"

"I think I get the idea Setzer," Locke said, cutting him off. Locke sighed heavily and went back to gazing. "I just wish she could have had a different fate."

"Fate works in mysterious ways," Setzer commented.

"How is that?" Locke asked curiously.

"Tell me, Locke, what would have happened if you had never taken Rachel to that cave and she never fell on that bridge?"

"That's a no brainer. I would have married her, settled down and had a family."

"…And you would have died," Setzer added in.

"What?" Locke asked with a slightly twisted expression.

"If Rachel hadn't 'died' the first time, you would have never joined the returners. If you hadn't joined the returners, you wouldn't have saved Terra and even if she was captured by Narshe, she would have been taken back by the empire eventually. Now how long do you think the world and all its people would have lasted with Terra at the right hand side of the Empire?"

"That doesn't make it right," Locke replied. "At least both of us could have been happy to the end."

Setzer shook his head in a disapproving matter. "What a selfish thing to say. Just look at yourself. I mean, just suppose Rachel suddenly came back to life and saw you in this state? Do you honestly think she would come back to you? You're not the man she fell in love with, not anymore. You're just some pathetic shadow of your former self. It's shameful really. Rachel would be sorely disappointed with you."

After a few more seconds of cold silence, Locke replied. "You're right." Setzer smiled and patted Locke's shoulder a few times before turning to leave.

"Cheer up Locke. This sad demeanor doesn't suit you at all."

Locke continued to stare into the sunset when, for the first time, he noticed the laughter and noises below him on the ground. He looked down at the shore and saw Terra. She was, at first, watching Gau and Relm play in the water. It wasn't very long before she joined them. They splashed in the water and laughed and giggled. Locke found himself smiling for once. It was at that moment Locke saw Terra stare up at him. She waved at him jovially. His smile grew into a grin and he waved back to her slowly.

"Locke!" she called out, "Why don't you join us?"

Locked sighed heavily again. But this time it was a different sigh. Like he was finally able to let something off of his chest. He stared at Terra and the kids intently for a while. "Alright!" he finally shouted back. Locke got off the railing and ran down stairs to join them. When he finally got to the ground level, Terra's back was to him and she was splashing water on Gau and Relm. He saw this as his opportunity. Locke ran at full speed and tackled her into the water. The kids roared with laughter, and for that matter, so did Locke. The only one who didn't find it amusing was Terra. She pouted for a little bit and glared at him. Then there was a hint of mischief in her eyes. She lunged towards Locke and pushed him over into the shallow water, and then shoved his head into the sand. 

"Everyone dog pile on the thief!" Terra yelled.

Gau and Relm looked at each other and then tackled Locke. He struggled for a little bit and managed to surface even with all three of them on him. Of course they were just playing and weren't actually trying to drown him.

"That's…" Locke started as he gasped for air.

"TREAUSRE HUNTER!" all four said at the same time. Terra, Gau and Relm were having a ball teasing Locke like that. The rest of the day was like that, filled with romping, laughing and a lot of splashing. Terra even cast Stop spell once on Locke so that Gau and Relm had a fair chance to 'get him' a few times. It was cheating, but hey, who was going to stop her. It was almost completely night time when the group had decided to return to the airship.

"I'm feeling better already," he said to himself as he walked into the airship.

Authors Note: So, how was it? I actually just thought of this morning (9-21-03) when I woke up. Funny thing is I had like 3 or 4 other stories floating around in my mind at the same time, and since this was the shortest, decided to write this one down first. ^^() I hope you enjoyed it, I know I did. :P And incase you couldn't tell, this is mainly about Locke and how he felt after Rachel's 'second' death. He thinks about it a lot and Setzer, who was and still is, in the same boat as him, goes to talk to him about it. Setzer, with the death of Daryl, knows all to well what Locke is going through. It really isn't ment as a shounen ai fic or anything romantic, but as just friends talking. And of course I had to add fluff at the end. It shows Locke, slowly but sure, letting his hear heal. You could take it as just friends, but if you want to take it as something more, he I'm not stopping you. ;D


End file.
